Great new look for hall at the heart of Southowram village

Crowds turned out to celebrate the opening of a newly refurbished community hall.

The hall at St Anne’s Church, Southowram, recently underwent a facelift and a special open day was held to display the finished look.

Among guests was the Deputy Mayor of Calderdale, Malcolm James, who officially opened the new-look facility.

The renovation was part of ongoing work at the church and it is hoped that even more people will now be able to use the hall.

Christine Firth, a member of the Parish Church Council, said: “We applied for a grant from the Community Foundation for Calderdale and that paid to have the roof mended and then a generous donation allowed us to get a new kitchen and refurbish the back room.

“The hall will be a real asset to the community and we’re hoping to carry out more work in the future.

“We had a lot of people come to the open day. There were lots of stalls, an afternoon tea and the people who came really enjoyed it.

“It was a way of inviting people in the village to come along and look at what we’ve done.

“Donations from the day will now go towards any future work.”

The hall is currently used by a number of groups including the cubs and scouts, SOFA (Southowram Over Fifties’ Activities) and is also used for dog training classes two nights a week.